My heart, your heart?
by avereygirl33
Summary: Both of these people have something in common. Both of their hearts are lost, and both need to realize they need one another to find them.


My heart, your heart? :

She brushed her long, strawberry-blond hair out of her face while feeling the last of the warm summer sun on her cheeks. The air was getting a little colder and the skirts a little longer, yet there was no difference in her heart. Her heart always stayed the same. No matter what day of the week, the month, the year it was, it was always steadily put. It was safe, locked up for that very special someone. She had been waiting for him her whole life. Some might even say she had been waiting too long…

He never believed in trust. Anything related to people was always an issue. His heart? He wasn't even sure if he had one. He didn't notice the seasons roll by, even less the months and the years his father had perfectly planned for him. He was a genius, but didn't feel like one. No, he knew he was even more important than that. His father never gave a damn about him except for his future with the company. His mother, well…let's just say she didn't have much of an opinion at the time. Now that he thought about it though, neither did he…

Both of these people have something in common. They were both in each other's lives without knowing they were the lingering change that was waiting to happen to one another.

"A boy and a girl can be friends, but one day they will fall in love. Maybe momentarily, maybe accidentally, or maybe forever. " –Unknown

This is the story of Tony and Pepper.

The story that no one ever knew about, probably because they never knew it themselves in the first place.

Let's start from the beginning. Pepper was a potential candidate to become THE Tony Stark's assistant. She got a referral from her last business inquirer, got her hair and nails done and her clothes pressed. She never would have thought in a million years she would have gotten the job, but that phone call she got about two days later sure made her feel like she deserved it. Tony knew from the start she was something special. Her charm was almost overwhelming and she seemed very neat. She was gorgeous, and her voice was like an angel's song to his ears. He liked that in a woman; but something told him he wouldn't exactly be fooling around with her…yet.

So they worked together. She was proud of her first year. He didn't even see it pass. Then, Iron man happened. She was mad, then not so much. Then, Iron man happened again in a bigger away. She got a little more upset, but she got over it. But then, after three years of working at Stark and realising that people were constantly trying to steal his technology and use it against him, she got sick of it. She felt more like a mother than assistant, and who could blame her. It was Tony Stark for crying out loud. Three years of her life she had spent taking care of this man (and doing most of his paperwork). She thought to herself: "Three years I'll never get back…or three years I would never take back?"

For Tony, those years were completely inexistent

Why? He did not know. He most likely would never know. Because time was a tricky thing that no one but father time himself knew how to control. He didn't notice the frequency of the incidents with Iron man because, well, he's Tony Stark. But he did notice one thing. Pepper seemed less and less amused with him.

Both of these people never knew what the future was keeping for them.

All his life, Tony Stark never had to plan his future. His father supported him in everything he did, but Tony still felt slightly obliged to follow in his shoes and run the company when he was older, which he did.

Pepper on the other hand, had all the doors open for her. But why did she feel more trapped than free? She didn't know at the time, and she still doesn't. One thing was sure; she wasn't ready to leave Stark industries. She was worried though. Worried for the company's future, worried for the media, worried for Tony.

Tony's parents died in a plane crash.

Pepper never spoke to her parents ever since their divorce.

Both of these people had no background to build when it came to love. Neither of them had any idea of what they were doing. Neither of them knew whether they ever would. Both of them knew time was running out…

Until they found each other. But wait, not just yet.

Pepper woke up every morning to a different girl. The girl was always prettier than she was. The girl was always ditsier than she was. The girl was always helplessly lost until Pepper was the one who helped her find her way to the door.

To Tony, these girls were the answer to all the pain and anger he had been feeling towards his parents all these years. The pain and anger that he had learnt to trap inside, and faintly try to cover up with stupid, humorous remarks. These girls allowed him to feel free, like he could do whatever he wanted. (Which he could) These girls were basically the people who couldn't stop him. These girls were the opposite of his father. The opposite of his mother. The opposite of the government who wanted to take away his suit.

The opposite of Pepper. Pepper, who was constantly trying to tell him how to run everything. And he never realised how much that meant to him until she was gone.

"I'm resigning."

He stared at her blankly. She thought of her words. He played her voice in his head over and over again. So did she. What happened to her not wanting to leave? But it was all okay because she was doing what she had been doing her entire life. She was listening to her heart.

Or was she?

He, on the other hand, lost any belief he had one in that moment. But he did not stop her. He did not yell 'stop' when she exited the room. He just sat there, waiting for her to come back. Just like he had waited for his parents to come back.

She walked out of the room. She walked out on three years' worth of work and effort and time. She walked out on Tony. She walked out on Tony just like her parents had walked out on her.

Three months later she felt it was enough. Tony was still up there all alone in his tower without a company C.E.O and she just couldn't take it. She was tired of staring out the blank window now and then and thinking tomorrow would be a better day. She no longer took walks outside. She no longer noticed the birds singing. She no longer followed her heart.

She abandoned her entire belief system when it came to love.

Tony missed her. He realised what he had been missing the entire time she was away. He looked inside a mirror and could see the pain in his eyes. He needed her to come back.

He embellished his belief system of love.

He called her, they talked. He could feel tears of joy bubble up in his throat when he heard her angelic voice for the first time in months. But she was broken. She didn't seem as happy and graceful as she usually did. This scared him. Never had he needed to fix anybody before. But he still tried. They met for dinner at the tower. When she came in, his knees felt like Jell-O. He wanted to hug her. It was completely off-guard, but he did it. He kissed her. And from the look she had given him right after that moment, he knew he had fixed her.

This is the story of Tony and Pepper.

Both had no faith in finding the one, one half of the two not even believing in finding anyone. But after some strange moments, after some sad ones too, they realised what they had been searching for. Each other. And while Pepper believes she might have wasted her time at Stark, she certainly kept up and began following her intuition right there. And Tony, the man who believed he had no heart…well, he now realises Pepper Potts was his heart all along. He just hadn't found it yet.


End file.
